


Covered

by lonelylivesofthewicked



Category: The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Klaus isn't actually IN this but he still features heavily, NEVER any unicorn babies, No Unicorn Babies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:48:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29102025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonelylivesofthewicked/pseuds/lonelylivesofthewicked
Summary: Caroline runs into Kol decades after his death.
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 75





	Covered

Saint Petersburg was stunning. Caroline hadn’t been to Russia in some 40-odd years, and she’d never been to Peter when she was. While time and history had changed some things, the imposing and bright architecture remained. She’d already toured the Alexander Palace; she left it feeling sad, looking at the things that had belonged to the last of the Romanovs and knowing their bloody end. In an effort to not be completely depressed during her trip, she roamed around until she ended up at the Hermitage Museum.

She was fascinated by its imperial origins as a palace, and appeared every inch the wide-eyed tourist as she moved through the structure. The opulence of it all was near overwhelming. She probably could’ve guessed that royalty had built it by the ceilings alone. Every archway, floor tile, strip of wallpaper screamed wealth in a way she’d only seen a handful of times.

Two hours had passed when she found herself in front of a beautiful landscape. Elegant strokes, colors subtly blending together, incredibly lifelike, with a touch of sorrow. She didn’t need to read the plaque’s information about its anonymous painter or see the scribbled initials to know that it was Klaus’s.

_Actually, one of my landscapes is hanging at the Hermitage, not that anyone would notice._

Words spoken a lifetime ago when she was a baby vampire, in love with Tyler and the human life she’d lost. Long before her Mystic Falls connections had been severed, before she could truly grasp the weight of a monster’s affections.

She hadn’t seen Klaus since her high school graduation, the promise of last love hanging in the air. The top-tier mini fridge sitting in her dorm room had spurned a semi-regular letter correspondence, occasional phone calls and texts, eventually turning into vague postcards from her travels after leaving Mystic Falls and Whitmore behind her. Knowing he was out there still thinking about her made her stomach flip. Because if he had lost interest like she had assumed he would, he never would’ve bothered responding. Occasionally he even sent gifts with short notes to her current residence, and she brushed off the fact that he probably had a hybrid detail on her as she moved around the world. With all the enemies he made, having extra protection around was something she wasn’t going to dig her heels in about.

She thought about inviting him to wherever she was bounding off to more often than not. Eternity was lonely when your loved ones were gone and you couldn’t stand in one place for too long. Klaus resided somewhere in France currently, and with her in Germany he could join her within hours. She didn’t have her friends’ judgment to worry about anymore, and her excuses for keeping her distance were flimsy now.

“Imagine running into you here, darling.”

Caroline started, having not been listening to the people around her, and turned around. Kol Mikaelson—Kol-freaking-Mikaelson, who she last saw dead on the Gilbert kitchen floor—was standing right there. Her shock must have been evident, because his smile widened.

“Kol? How—? How are you here right now?” She blurted.

“You mean how am I alive?” He shot back, looking more excited than angry, but still making Caroline nervous. While she had protested killing Kol, it was _her_ friends that murdered him, and she had dealt with the aftermath. There was a high probability that he would torture or kill her for association alone.

She gulped loudly, but forced her tone to remain even. “Yes.”

“Nik wouldn’t allow his favorite brother to stay dead, little Caroline. Some ancestral magic, my body, a little post-resurrection bloodshed, and I was good as new.” He narrowed his eyes. “I’m surprised Nik didn’t tell you about it. Aren’t you two in contact?”

“We… write to each other sometimes, but no, he never disclosed anything about your miraculous return to the world.” And boy would she be having words about _that_. When you have your brother resurrected, you _tell_ your friends about it, damn it!

Kol moved forward a bit so that he stood closer to the painting. “Can I assume that you know who painted this?”

She nodded, watching him wearily. “Klaus mentioned it to me once. I recognize the style.”

“He is particularly proud of this one, even though it’s boring. I prefer body art myself, but I’m not the artist.” He paused, glancing over at Caroline curiously. “Why didn’t you invite him? I’m sure he would preen at you seeing his fabulous work displayed.”

Caroline stood ramrod straight, lifting her chin up and staring him in the eye. “Why are you here? If you’re going to kill me, Kol, then just do it. I’m sure you want your revenge.”

His face dropped slightly, almost like he was _disappointed_ , and her temper flared up. “Oh, Caroline. I’m not going to kill you. At the very least, Nik would leave me daggered for two centuries should I harm a single hair on your head.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and spat back, “So if it weren’t for Klaus, you’d kill me? That doesn’t inspire much confidence. You two could argue and then you come after me just to teach him a lesson.”

Kol leaned forward into her personal space, and she refused to yield an inch even as her heart pounded violently in her chest. Lowly, he said, “Even if I wanted to upset Nik, I wouldn’t harm you, Caroline. Would you like to know why?”

Her lack of response was enough for him.

“Not only did you argue against killing me for the sake of my sire line, but you were the only one who thought to cover up my body.” Her eyes widened at his confession, and he continued, “Whether it was for yourself to not see what your precious friends did to me, or for Nik, or for me, doesn’t matter. It was a small kindness very few would give me. For that, and for my brother’s obsession with you, you remain safe with me.” He finally backed up, appearing much more relaxed than she was. He offered a smile that was almost genuine—nothing could quite wipe the smugness from it. “But I do hope you’ve acquired better friends in the last century, or that might change.”

Satisfied with himself, Kol turned away, walking over to a brunette girl. He grabbed her hand as he did, interlacing their fingers, and exited, leaving Caroline staring at the archway flabbergasted.

Maybe it was time to finally see Klaus.

**Author's Note:**

> My sister and I talked about Caroline not being on board to kill Kol in season 4 and then this happened. I've never watched The Originals nor do I count anything post-season 4 of TVD as canon EXCEPT for maybe the Klaroline forest sex-marathon, but in this story that never happened. Also, I had to mention the Romanovs bc Netflix's 'The Last Czars' really got to me


End file.
